Troubleshoot Stripe subscription renewals

Why it happens: "Subscription Update" is Stripe's own wording, not a JourneyCARE setting. The subscription is created at the first purchase, and every later automatic rebill acts on that existing subscription, so Stripe records it as an update. The label cannot be changed. The Line Item details are in JourneyCARE, even if they do not show in your Stripe account.

How to see the membership type: export your transactions as a CSV from Payments > Transactions using the Download icon. The export includes line-item columns, and Line item name is the product name behind each charge. See Export or download transactions as CSV for the full column list.

Why it happens: a test purchase made during setup was refunded, but its subscription was never canceled. A refund does not stop a subscription: the subscription has to be canceled separately. Stripe keeps billing it at each renewal, and the charge can go through on a real card.

How to stop it: cancel the subscription in JourneyCARE.

1. Open Payments > Subscriptions.

2. Find the subscription tied to the test purchase and open its menu.

3. Cancel the subscription.

Refunding the charge alone leaves the subscription active in Stripe. See Issue refunds for how refunds work.

Why it happens: the contact was deleted after the original transaction, which broke the link to the subscription. With no contact linked, JourneyCARE has nobody to send the renewal notice to, but Stripe still holds the subscription and bills it anyway.

How to find the payment record:

1. Search the name or email in Payments > Transactions and Payments > Subscriptions. Payment records persist even after the contact is deleted.

2. If a transaction exists but the contact does not, the contact was probably deleted or merged. If it was deleted recently, you may be able to restore it: see Restore deleted contacts.

3. Compare the contact's creation date with the transaction date. The bottom of the contact record shows when and how the contact was created; see Find where a contact came from. If the contact was created after the transaction, it is a different contact: for example, an email address can exist again as a contact because a form created it later, and that new contact is not connected to the older subscription.

Why it happens: the card on the subscription was declined.

How to find the reason: check the decline reason on the transaction in Payments > Transactions. You can also review failure details in the Failed payments report in your own Stripe account. We do not have access to your Stripe account, so decline details beyond what the transaction shows have to come from there.

When a subscription payment fails, the system creates an invoice for the customer and retries the payment automatically on a schedule you control. See What happens when a subscription payment fails.